Six Years Later
by YouMeAtJess
Summary: Numbuh 1 returns from his work with the GKND to find the operatives of Sector V have been decommissioned. Will the gang ever be the same, or will their differences that once kept them together, be their downfall?
1. Introductions

**This is my first proper KND fic so I hope it doesn't go too bad :)**

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><p>Nigel Uno stood in front of the packed class, only a few eyes were on him, most of the students were quickly scribbling away, trying to make their essay deadline, some were staring out of the window while others carved their name's into their desk. As his eyes trailed across the many blank faces, one stuck out to him the most. A slender, bright eyed Asian girl was sat closest to the window. Her waist long, shimmering, black hair was held back by a light green headband which matched her oversized green jumper. On her bottom half she wore a black pleated skirt and knee high, white, lace socks with small black pumps. She was gazing out of the window dreamily, a soft smile on her light pink lips. The teacher pointed at a seat beside the girl, gesturing for Nigel to sit down.<p>

Nigel felt butterflies bounce against his stomach as it slowly dawned on him who this girl was. "Nigel Uno." He tried to smile, holding out his hand. He knew what was coming, but he had to hope.

The girl snapped her head towards him, eyes sparkling with excitement. "I'm Kuki Sanban." She'd forgotten him. The sound of her voice took Nigel aback, it was less high pitched than he remembered, but still had that innocent tone that always got her what she wanted. Nigel was surprised that she sat by herself. Kuki had always had a sweet, loveable quality about her, now her teenage looks should have made her a constant fly trap for all the boys in school. Now that Nigel noticed, everyone was situated quite far away from her, no one looked at her, smiled or talked. "You don't have to sit next to me if you don't want to, Nigel. I won't get upset." She gave him a genuine smile.

"Why wouldn't I want to sit beside you?" Nigel asked, curious.

Kuki gave a small laugh. "The same reason everyone else avoids me." Nigel stared blankly. "I'm a bit of a freak." Her smile stayed put on her face as she explained, it stayed while the girls at the back of the class laughed at her and the boys threw paper at her. It even stayed while she stood up to leave and one boy stuck his foot out so she tripped.

Nigel grabbed her arm just as she was about to hit the floor and steadied her. "Thank you, Nigel."

The pair travelled to lunch together, Nigel watched as his old friend blocked out the whispers and taunts from other student who passed them. They sat down at an empty table at the back of the cafeteria. Nigel placed his lunch down and began to unwrap his sandwiches when he noticed Kuki wasn't eating. "Did you forget your lunch? I have some extra money if you want to lend it." He reached down for his rucksack but stopped when Kuki waved her hand out.

"No, no." She gazed at the table, her eyes fixed on the dents and groves. "My mom has me on a diet plan so I eat when I get home."

Nigel frowned. "But you don't need to lose any weight."

"It's a healthy eating plan." She said simply. Kuki didn't talk much during lunch, instead she played with her fingertips and now and again smiled into the distance. Nigel frowned thinking of the old Kuki. He used to beg for peace and quiet when he was around her, now he found himself wishing to hear her babble on about Rainbow Monkeys or Numbuh 4. Wally, now he guessed. Nigel lifted his bald head higher, searching for any of his other old team mates. He couldn't see anyone. Then a swish of red hair caught his eye. The girl turned around, she was glaring for a moment, Nigel guessed she was arguing with one of her friends. He smiled as he saw a flash in her eyes. The Irish teen made her way over, her short orange shirt clinging to her lily white thighs. Kuki lifted her head up for the first time that lunch to acknowledge Fanny Fulbright 's arrival.

"Hello, Nigel." She raised her eyebrows, smiling from the corner of her mouth. Numbuh 86 remembered him, which could only mean one of two things. She was either part of the Teens Next Door, or she had turned traitor and joined the Ninjas. Nigel didn't have to guess, it was obvious Fanny could never go against the Kids Next Door.

"Fanny." He said curtly, nodding in her direction.

Kuki tilted her head to the side, letting her black locks slide to dangling position. "You two know each other?"

"I guess you could say we're old friends." Numbuh 86's Irish tongue pronounced her words hard, she hadn't changed much. "I see you've made friends with Kuki here. Good choice, you don't want to get caught up with some of the other kids this school has to offer." There was something about her expression that worried Nigel. It was like she was warning him about something, without being too direct. Or even slightly direct for that matter. "Well I've gotta dash, it was nice catching up." Fanny smirked before spinning on her heel and taking off to rejoin her friends.

"What was that about?" Kuki giggled, her cheeks bunching up to her eyes. She really was incredibly cute.

After lunch Kuki and Nigel went to collect their things from their lockers and she showed him to the gym where the quickly got changed then regrouped. The room was filled with students, some he recognised, some he didn't, and a few he knew very well. Not that they had any idea who he was. The first person he noticed was a golden blonde girl who's hair spiralled down passed her shoulders. When Rachel noticed him looking, he received the biggest smile he'd seen all day, baring in mind that he had spent most of the morning with Kuki Sanban. She raised her hand above her head and waved, beaming. Kuki smiled softly, wrapping her arms around her waist. "If you're friends with girls like Fanny and Rachel, why have you been hanging around with me?" There was a touch of sadness to her tone which hurt Nigel.

"What do you mean? Rachel and Fanny aren't that bad." Nigel found that he sounded a little too defensive of his old superiors.

Kuki shrugged. "They're okay I guess, but they're friends are real bitches. You probably shouldn't be seen with me."

Nigel shook his head and placed his arm around Kuki, she giggled as the walked toward the P.E teacher. The teacher, Mr Kurtley, was explaining what the class were going to be doing today, however Nigel found it hard to concentrate because two voices that he recognised all too well were having a heated discussion behind him. "Could you _ please_ take those stupid goggles off for _five __minutes_. Boy I swear you're gonna end up in the hospital again!" The girl whispered fiercely.

"Ugh calm down Abby, I can see just fine." The boy huffed. He then began to go on about how his goggles had nothing to do with his last accident. Nigel had to bite the inside of his lip so as not to chuckle, and annoyingly he felt himself welling up. The thought of those two sticking together through everything made him want to cry with happiness.

Everyone jumped as the door to the gym were flung open. "Nice of you to join us Mr Beatles." Mr Kurtley rolled his eye tapping his clipboard.

"Sure is." The Aussie mumbled, pulling his earphones out and tossing his bag, along with his iPod, to the side. Nigel's brow creased. Wally had a large black eye, the swelling was still pretty bad and he could tell it was fresh. When the ex-operative removed his trademark orange sweatshirt to revile a short sleeved orange tee, he noticed heavy bruising on his arms.

"And why are we so late, Mr Beatles?" Mr Kurtley pushed.

Wally sighed and threw his hands into his jeans pockets. "Because I had stuff to sort out. Problem?"

Mr Kurtley rolled his eyes and sighed. "Everyone, get into groups of five. We're going orienteering."

Kuki turned to Nigel sheepishly. "If you need someone to be in a group with, I'll be with you. I normally get asked last anyway so I understand if you don't want to." Nigel laughed quietly, he hated seeing Kuki like this, but he had to go along with it. The pair looked around for anyone else to be with. Rachel and Fanny had joined three other girls and were already laughing and joking on.

"Hey, Kuki." Abby called over. Nigel turned and saw the girl who was formally his best friend for the first time. She'd changed her hair a little. Instead of one big plat, it was was in thin braids tied up in a side ponytail. She still wore her red hat. Beside her stood Hoagie Gilligan. The first obvious change was his weight. There was none. He was tall and gangly, his aviators cap traded in for a plane brown one like Abby's. "Wanna be a team? You're friend can be in too." Although Abby's face was still stern from her rant with Hoagie, she looked fairly nice. Kuki practically squealed, grabbing onto Nigel's arm and pulling him towards the pair. "The name's Abby," She gave Nigel a welcoming smile. "This idiot here's Hoagie."

"Nigel." He smiled back. Nigel noted that he was improving on his poker face. He's bet his old accomplices didn't even notice the pain in his eyes when he saw that they, like the others, had no idea who he was.

"Beatles, you're with Gilligan!" Mr Kurtley snapped from the corner where he was tying up skipping ropes.

Abby smacked her hand onto her forehead. "Why is it always us who get's stuck with the train wreck, with the fighting and the skipping school and the gangs and the stealing..." She muttered quietly to herself as she wandered over to get a map and some compasses.

Hoagie watched her walk away then whipped his head back over to Kuki and Nigel. "I really don't think the guy's that bad. I mean, I wouldn't hang around with him, but it's better to be with him then against him. Especially in sports. That kid's like an Australian Usain Bolt."

"That's probably cause he's used to running away from the cops." Abby laughed, coming back over.

Wally yawned and stretched his arms above his head as he slowly made his way over. He looked Nigel up and down for a moment, then his eyes journeyed to Kuki. He snorted, "Great, I'm on a team with Kookoo Sanban, Fly Boy, Little Miss Badass and a bald kid." He folded his arms over his chest and lead the way out of the gym to the grounds.


	2. Orienteering

Kuki sat cross legged on the grass, plucking out strands and watching them dance away in the cool spring breeze. Her silken midnight hair whipped around her waist, untamed. Wally was stood up against the old, battered, green railing that surrounded the school, his concentration fixed on a bug he was trying to squish with his shoe. The team had decided to split up so as to cover more ground. Though it was more like Abby had dragged Hoagie away, yelling about how she'd kill Wally if she had to spend more than ten minutes with him. Nigel crossed his legs on the grass and smoothed out the map. Tapping the compass lightly, he looked around the empty field. He wasn't used to having to use stuff like this. Normally Hoagie had some wacky 2x4 Technology to do the hard work for him.

"We should just wing it." Wally grumbled. He hardly ever came into school, and when he did it was only for his P.E lessons, so having to stand around doing nothing was really getting to him. "I could probably find them all just by looking around randomly quicker than you can read that cruddy compass." 'Them' were the letters and symbols hidden around the school.

Nigel rubbed his forehead, "Or you could end up walking around in circles."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wally snapped, crushing the bug into oblivion. Stamping over, the Aussie crossed his arms and leant over the map. "Come on, I'm _ bored_!"

Nigel smirked, tapping the map. "Okay, okay. This is one, I think." Wally straightened himself and looked around, Nigel joined him. "Right over there." He pointed towards a large tree on top of one of the hills on the school field.

"Easy." Wally snorted, striding off. Nigel tapped Kuki, breaking her trance. She followed obediently. Nigel observed the blonde haired boy as he began to climb the tree incredibly swiftly. He moved with ease, twisting and turning around the branches. "I see it!" He called back from amongst the leaves. "It's the number 43!"

After the first symbol was found, the rest came quite easily. Nigel would point them in the right direction and Wally would collect them while Kuki spun around or wandered off to look at butterflies. The three began walking back up the grey, ageing path approaching the school. "So how did you get that black eye?" The Brit asked, curious to what his ex team mate had been up to. Wally had always had a rough streak in him and enjoyed getting into fights, but he never came across the type that someone would want to whack in the eye. To be honest, Nigel had seen him as sort of sensitive. He had that gangster edge, but the good in him always shone through, especially when it concerned Kuki. It was hard to believe that the chemistry that had once ran through them was completely gone, after the years of pure devotion on Wally's side. Now he had joined everyone else at the school in avoiding Kuki, though the bald teen couldn't see anything particularly peculiar about her.

"None of yer business." Wallaby snapped back, folding his toned, creamy arms over his chest.

Nigel raised his eyebrows but didn't question it further; instead he took a different rout. "Okay, why do you skip school?"

"What the crud is this? Twenty questions? I have more important things to deal with!" He spat, kicking a stone that narrowly missed a twirling Kuki. "Anyway, new guy, what's the deal with you?"

"What deal?" Nigel smirked. The spring sun bear heavily down on him, glistening light shone in his eyes. It was times like this he regretted giving his trademark sunglasses to Abby.

"Well you're not exactly from 'round here, are ya?" He laughed, dodging Kuki as she span between the pair. "Watch it, kid."

Nigel snorted, turning his head towards Wally. "Not from around here? You can talk. And you're not getting anything out of me until you tell me how you got that black eye."

"So this is how we're playing it." The Aussie muttered, brushing his light blonde hair out of his eyes. "I owed some guys some money. That good enough for ya? Now, what made ya move out here?"

Maybe this was what Numbuh 86 was talking about, Nigel guessed. It was hard to believe that Wally was getting involved with the type of people who beat you up over money. He wondered what would push his old friend to have to borrow money from that sort of crowd. "I used to live here when I was younger, moved away for a bit, and now I'm back."

"Your parents got a new job or something?" Wall asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring at his shoes.

Watching Wally, Nigel couldn't help but smirk at his actions, in this way he hadn't changed a bit. "No, they live back in England. It's just me."

Nigel saw Wally's eye shoot to the side, then dart back, acting as if nothing had happened. There was a faint redness to his face. "That's me too. My parents are backpacking across all the continents, or something like that." He grumbled, kicking another rock.

This surprised him, Wally's parents didn't seem the type to go off on a whirlwind adventure without their son. "So you live on your own?"

Wally hesitated, biting the inside of his lip. "Not really, my kid brother lives with me. It's hard to make ends meet if you know what I mean."

"Yeah." Nigel responded quietly. "Is that why you skip school, to look after him?"

He shrugged. "Sometimes, I mean, he's six, he goes to school. But I gotta work too." Wally sighed deeply, then looked up towards Kuki. She was sat cross legged on the cool concrete slabs, smiling up at the clouds, her head tilting from side to side. "She's not all there is she?"

"I guess I've only known her a day, but she seems all right." It felt weird taking about Kuki like that, but Nigel guessed the statement was fitting. Clearly things had changed since he had left for the Galactic Kids Next Door, so it was sort of like this was the first time he was meeting the ex operatives of Sector V. He bit the inside of his mouth, "What do you think of her?"

Wally looked slightly taken aback. "I dunno. Don't think we've ever talked. Not that I talk to anyone in this cruddy school."

"You're talking to me." Nigel pointed out, a smile threatening his lips. Wally shrugged again, but stayed silent. Nigel spotted Abby and Hoagie wandering around the corner, Hoagie was writing down the final symbol while Abby was fiddling with some grass. Hoagie smiled and waved at the group, hurrying over. "Did you get all yours?" Nigel asked, handing them his sheet. "We did."

"Us too." Abby answered, looking over to Kuki. "Hey, Kuki, you coming?" She asked as the slender Asian played with a Ladybug on her fingertips. Kuki nodded and jumped up, saying goodbye to the insect and dancing over to join the group. "Well, Abby thinks that went pretty well." Nigel couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face when Abby referred to herself in third person. The group made their way back over to the gym changing rooms and when off to their lessons. Kuki checked Nigel's timetable.

"You've got Science, I'll take you there." She smiled, dragging her new friend by the wrist. Nigel didn't look forward to having a lesson by himself, he was getting used to having Kuki in his company again. "There you go." She smiled, skipping off back the way she had came. The Brit edged into the busy classroom and looked around for anyone he might recognise. There was one. Numbuh 362 was sat one one of the stools, directly to her right sat Patton Drilovsky who was attempting to text under the table without getting caught. It didn't work.

"Mr Drilovsky, please hand over your phone." The balding teacher sighed, holding out his hand.

Rachel looked up and smiled over to Nigel, she tapped the chair beside her, asking him to sit down. Patton frowned for a moment while Nigel sat down, before realisation crossed his face. "Nice to see you again, Numbuh 1." He grinned, leaning around Rachel.

"I see the pair of you got into TND." He replied, genuinely happy to have someone who remembered him. "I can't say I'm surprised." He laughed. "You two were always guaranteed a place, as well as Numbuh 86."

"I'm sorry I couldn't come and see you as soon as you arrived back, but I've been swamped with deadlines and of course, butt kicking." She tittered, then her face turned sympathetic. "So how's it been with the other guys?"

Nigel's face dropped. "I don't understand how they didn't get into the Teens Next Door. They were some of the greatest operatives I'd ever met."

Numbuh 60 sighed. "Yes, they _were_. After you left, it was hard for them. Especially Numbuh 4. They all sort of disappeared inside of themselves."

"Don't get us wrong, they still always got the job done." Rachel sighed, "But they weren't the same. They lost that spark. And what with Numbuh 4 losing it a bit, we decided to decommission them all at once on Numbuh 5's birthday."

Patton nodded. "We thought that decommissioning them early would be less cruel then making them watch their friends forget them."

Nigel nodded in understanding. "I really wish they could remember me." Rachel put her arm around Nigel until the teacher called for attention. He handed Nigel a class book for him to fill out and began the lesson.

"So had Numbuh 274 been in contact with you yet?" Rachel whispered from the corner of her mouth.

"No not yet." He replied honestly, scribbling down notes on the lesson.

Rachel nodded. "He should do soon then, that ism if you plan on staying on as an operative?"

Nigel let out a quiet chuckle. "Of course, this organisation is my life. But what are they going to do about my team?"

"Get you a new one probably, you can't be a leader without people to lead."


	3. Get them back

**Sorry this took a while guys, I was swamped with coursework last week :S also sorry this is quite short, I'll have a longer one next time, promise :)**

**AppleDuck: Thank you :), you'll just have to wait and see ;).**

**Ajir: Ah thank you :D.**

**Dysphoniq: I think that's honestly the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me :') Marry me please?**

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><p>The lights flicked on, illuminating the every crevice of the ageing room. No one had been here for years, apart from Nigel. His parents had left in the same week that he had joined the Galactic Kids Next Door. Rubbing his forehead and sighing deeply, he rested himself down on the somewhat dusty couch, cleaning was out of his comfort zone so the place was left as it was. Today had been very draining and Nigel wasn't sure his emotions could take much more. He didn't know what was worse, the the fact that none of his friends could remember him, or that they had all suffered so much after his leaving. Maybe it was a good thing that they had been decommissioned, that way he couldn't hurt them any more. A part of him ached inside when he thought of Wally and Kuki. They had once been so tight, Nigel presumed they'd end up together in the end, despite the taking of their memories. He was glad though that through everything Abby and Hoagie had found each other, even if he would have never have seen that coming. <em>Opposites <em>_attract_, he smiled, flicking through the channels for something to watch. Seeing Numbuh's 362, 86 and 60 had cheered him up at least, it was nice to be remembered by someone. A sharp ringing made Nigel leap to his feet in panic, he scolded himself once he realised it was just the phone. "Hello?" He answered.

"Numbuh 1? It's Numbuh 274." The voice of Chad Dickson replied, coolly.

"Hello sir, I thought you'd contact me through a transmision." Nigel chuckled, settling himself back down onto the sofa.

He hear Chad give a small laugh, "I tried to, but you're not in the Treehouse."

"Good point, sir." He blushed, glad his commander had contacted him this way, so he couldn't see his embarrassment. "I'm guessing you're calling about my Sector situation?"

"Correct, as always, Numbuh 1." Chad chuckled lowly, he sighed and tapped his fingers on what sounded like a keyboard. "I'll get straight to the point, we've been thinking this through for a few months and I see no problem with you getting your old team back." Nigel's mouth dropped open to a small 'o' shape. Chad's words twirled around inside his head, reminding him of Kuki's dancing. "Numbuh 1?"

"Err, yes sir?"

"Unfortunately we can't recommission them, so the only way to get them back would be to tell them." Chad sighed, clicking away on a mouse.

Nigel bit his lip, "I don't think it would be that simple, sir." He said honestly, his hopes dropping down into the pit of his stomach.

"Nigel, nothing's simple. If you really want them back you'll find a way. I've got to go, this thing doesn't run it's self." The line when dead and Nigel clicked the phone back into its holster. How was he supposed to explain to four teenagers that barely know his name, that they were once part of an intergalactic organisation set on bringing justice and rights to kids. Nigel groaned, making his way up to his room where he threw himself onto his bed, pushing his drained face deep into the goose feather pillow and gently drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Nigel woke up late and pretty much had to run to school, his eyes still misty with sleep. When he eventually made it to school he was ten minutes late for first period. "Nice of you to join us this morning Mr Uno," The old, ageing woman clicked her tongue at him, tapping her foot rapidly on the thin carpet. "Well what are you waiting for? Sit down." Nigel quickly obliged, taking the only available seat next to Abby. She turned her head a little when he sat down, then looked back to the front of the classroom, pen in hand. Her book was already full of notes, neat twirling handwriting filled the page elegantly. "Now is everyone clear on this weeks project?" Mrs Tibson shot a glare over to Nigel. "Apart from those of us whom were late." She popped the 't' sound, then smiled and went to sit at her desk. Nigel looked around the room, confusion clear on his face.

A quiet laughter from beside him caught his attention, "Abby'll explain it to you." His old friend smiled, rolling her eyes. "Just don't be late next time, 'kay?" Nigel nodded while Abby explained the project. For the next week we were to work on analysing our choice of play by William Shakespeare with a partner. Nigel looked around the room again, he didn't recognise anyone in here. "Don't worry kid, you can work with Abby if you want."

"Thanks." He smiled sheepishly. Then a thought struck him, if Nigel could get her alone, maybe he'd have a better chance of explaining their past to her. "Erm, my house or yours?"

Abby smiled, "Mine, we've got ice cream." Nigel chuckled, of course. Abby had always loved her ice cream.

After the rather unproductive lesson on Nigel's part, he made his way down to science where he found Rachel and Patton waiting for him outside the classroom door, eager looks on their faces. Rachel clearly couldn't wait the brief seconds for him to walk down the corridor, because she made a short run towards him, grabbing his sleeve and hurrying him over to where Patton was still stood. "I heard Numbuh 274 contacted you last night. Or called you. Seriously Nigel that's really unprofessional." She laughed, pushing the classroom door open. "So, what did he say?"

Nigel explained the conversation he had had with Chad the night before and watched as his superiors mouths hung open, in a clear 'o' shape. Patton was the first to speak. "That's awesome." He grinned, then frowned as the teacher removed his phone from his hand.

"No," Rachel sighed. "That's not awesome."

"How come?" Nigel asked, his forehead creasing.

Rachel placed her cheek in her hand, her cool, minty breath washed over Nigel's face and for a moment, though he wasn't sure why, he was entranced. "Well," She said quietly. "If someone who you barely knew came up to you, and told you that you were once part of a huge child run organisation to protect the welfare of kids against adult tyranny, but you couldn't remember any of it because you had your memory wiped when you turned thirteen, how would you react?" The boys faces were blank. "You'd report them."

Nigel was still frozen, then he smiled and rolled his eyes. "Seriously Rachel, you've got one hell of an imagination."

"Yeah, what's so unbelievable about that?" Patton laughed.

Rachel groaned and lay her head on the desk. "Boys." She muttered.


End file.
